Trump’s Venezuela action is lesson to Nigeria – ADC

●Says Tinubu’s silence embarrassing, reeks of fear

By Editor

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has viewed the action taken by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to arrest and bring to trial Mr. Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, and his wife, as a timely warning and lessons to the Nigerian Government in many respects.

The party also criticised the Nigerian government’s failure to react to the development, as other countries and world leaders have done, as an embarrassment to the country, which can only be explained by President Tinubu’s personal fear that he may suffer the fate of the disgraced Venezuelan leader.

In a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said while the party supports the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations, the party believes that a government that holds its national laws in contempt and tramples on the rights of its citizens opens itself up to external interference.

The party noted that Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election was widely condemned and warned that authoritarian leaders and election riggers can no longer hide under the sanctity of national borders to protect their stolen mandates.

The full statement reads: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) considers Saturday’s action by the United States Government to arrest the President of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro, and his wife as a clear warning that sends a strong message to the Nigerian government and any other government that lacks legitimacy.

“ADC strongly supports the principles of the sanctity of national sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of another country, as enshrined in Articles 2(1) and 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, principles that underpin global peace and order.

“Nevertheless, we maintain that these international governance doctrines, which were ordinarily designed to maintain global order, should not be invoked to provide a safe haven for tyranny, electoral fraud, or the systematic denial of a people’s right to freely choose their leaders.

“It is public knowledge that the 2024 Venezuela presidential elections were widely condemned as illegitimate and deeply flawed by nine governments across Latin America, the European Union, and international democratic institutions, all pointing to a process marked by fraud, repression, and exclusion. Political opponents were barred from contesting, peaceful protests were met with violence, and state institutions were weaponized against the very citizens they exist to serve. The net consequence of this has been mass migration at a scale that undermines regional stability.

“While the United States intervention raises serious and legitimate questions under international law, one reality cannot be ignored. The visible wave of popular public support that followed within Venezuela speaks to a deeper crisis of legitimacy of the Maduro government. When citizens pour into the streets in celebration, it reveals more than approval of an intervention; it exposes the bankruptcy of the regime that has been upended.

“ADC also considers it deeply embarrassing that more than 48 hours after the situation in Venezuela, the Nigerian government is yet to react in any way. This silence by the APC-led Bola Tinubu administration is a further indication that Nigeria, under President Tinubu, has lost both voice and standing on the international stage.

“At a moment when the world is grappling with the difficult balance between sovereignty, democracy, and accountability, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest democracy, is conspicuously absent.

“Apart from the lamentable decline in Nigeria’s global and national standing under this administration, this silence reflects the government’s moral crisis, which removes its legitimacy to take a principled stand on anything.

“Let’s be clear that the Nigerian government’s choice of silence in this moment has nothing to do with neutrality. It instead reveals a government that lacks confidence simply because it lacks integrity.

“The African Democratic Congress stands for the principle that sovereignty must ultimately reflect the will of the people, not merely the survival of a regime. In Nigeria, in Venezuela, and across the world, democracy must mean more than ballots and electoralism. It must translate to freedom, fairness, and a happier life for the citizens.

“In this context, the ADC believes that the situation in Venezuela is a cautionary tale to all dictators, including the supposedly elected ones, and election riggers everywhere. The world is watching, and contrived mandates will no longer find a place to hide.”